RomanPunks is a retrofuturistic, cyberpunk derivative world-building project inspired by fine art, history and the cryptopunk movement.
A total of 1,000 RomanPunk characters have been frozen in time and minted as Non Fungible Tokens (NFTs) on the Ethereum, WAX, Polygon and Algorand blockchains.
RomanPunk characters are comprised of commoners and famous individuals based on Roman history, art history and pop culture.
The basis for RomanPunk lore and backstories is exhaustively researched by history/sci-fi buff and co-founder, Punktavian.
All images are drawn by hand by woman artist and co-founder, Cleopunktra, without the aid of AI or generative tools.
RomanPunks came into existence through early minting on OpenSea, promoting on Twitter and building a Discord community through giveaways and engagement. The idea of a cyberpunk-derivative ‘RomanPunk’ theme was in our heads for years, but it was the success of the Cryptopunks that became the catalyst for project conception and launch.
After a hard working first 60 days spent networking and attracting new collectors to RomanPunks, our community had begun to flourish and sales increased. We began to offer our collectors an opportunity to battle their NFTs in a tournament bracket powered by dice rolls.
Encouraged by the tight knit community and the carbon-neutral blockchain with lightning fast and low cost transactions, we launched 'romanpunksio' collection on WAX Blockchain as the first step to expand the backstories of our RomanPunk characters and the baseline for future development of a card game.
RomanPunks integrated with Chainlink Labs to utilize VRF (Verified Randomness Function) to host a giveaway raffle for our holders. We developed a smart contract on Ethereum which guarantees true random number selection on chain and can be used for a wide range of functions that require random selection.
After much anticipation in the community, we released our first WAX NFT card 'pack' through the Neftyblocks platform, which sold out in less than a week.
We launched our Twitch channel and begun building an audience by offering numerous giveaways of WAX NFTs from our collection, as well as giving participants a chance to win RomanPunk ETH NFT airdrops for taking top spot at the end of the 'season'.
As firm believers in a metaverse future and land owners in The Sandbox, we undertook to build the RomanPunk Colosseum on 1x1 land and entered our experience "Gladiator Bloodsport" into a GameJam contest. We will continue to build the Colosseum into a PVP arena and social hub once The Sandbox offers creators the ability to do so.
Thanks to the user friendly tools offered by NeftyBlocks, we launched a comprehensive blending system on WAX, allowing our collectors to blend the common NFTs they earn in our Discord RPG up into Legendary famous NFTs through the use of blending 'coins' that can also be earned on the Discord as reward for helping to promote the RomanPunks project.
We launched the VX collection on Polygon. Each owner of an ETH NFT gets their voxel equivalent airdropped to them, and these NFTs can be redeemed for official NFTs on The Sandbox Marketplace once available.
All 1,000 original, unique 1:1 RomanPunk characters hand drawn by Cleopunktra and minted on OpenSea.
The RomanPunk WAX NFT Trading Card Fighter Pack Series II consists of 3 NFTs randomly selected from over 236 characters.
Upcoming plans for RomanPunks include:
Below is a comprehensive and searchable directory of all 1,000 RomanPunk Characters.
Born in 51 AD in Virunum, Acca, the daughter of a Roman general and a servant woman, was raised in the Second Legion and became a fiercely loyal soldier for the Flavian Emperors. It is said that Acca died attempting to prevent the assassination of Domitian.
Born 49 AD in Virunum, Valentin is a common soldier and timid husband of Acca who lived in the shadow of his wife until she was killed defending Emperor Domitian from assassins; henceforth, Valentin vowed revenge on those responsible for her death.
Born 125 BC in Sinope, Ted was raised by circus freaks and has become well known for his talents as an animal whisperer. He was enslaved by the invading Romans and sent to Rome to toil in the gladiator business.
Born 2135 AD in Leptis Magna, Mordax ascended from a lowly sanitation supervisor to governor of Neo-Carthage, exploiting his addiction to vice and skill in political manipulation. Handpicked by cloned Emperor Caligula following a fabricated scandal to oust the previous governor, Mordax luxuriates in his power. Yet beneath the city, a cloned Hannibal leads a rebellion, threatening his opulent dominion.
Born 181 AD in Adrianople, Groucho is a stand-up comedian and estranged brother of Emperor Maximinus who travels interdimensionally to lampoon political leaders in the public forum, only to disappear through a portal before he can be arrested.
Born in 261 AD in Olisipo, Dobiteina and her husband Arco are time slaves who toiled as resurrection gladiators in a distant time and place. After living thousands of lifetimes, they escaped and returned to the 3rd century AD where they triumphed with advanced tactics and equipment in the colosseum.
Born in 106 AD, Rabbel guarded the royal tombs of Petra until one day he disappeared into a dimensional portal, sending him to a distant place and time where he was pressed into service as a cybergladiator.
Born 1996 AD in Tarraco, Oza is the sharp-witted assistant to Vittoria Creedus in Neo-Carthage’s Bizarre Bazaar. With the help of her pet skunk whose spray erases memories, she quietly steals from unsuspecting customers while keeping up appearances. Oza’s cleverness keeps her schemes hidden, but in a city where secrets are dangerous currency, her luck may not last forever.
Born 2,688 AD in Londinium, Carlus is a time adjuster who travels across dimensions to repair critical issues with the space time continuum by facilitating events to happen as intended. He also shreds on guitar.
Born 89 AD in Rome, Oppius was a member of the Punktorian Guard sent through an interdimensional portal on a reconnaissance mission by Emperor Hadrian; however, Oppius preferred the alternate 28th century AD reality and never attempted to return.
Born 219 BC in Larissa, Zoe is the rebellious daughter of a wealthy lord who cast her lot with the invading Romans before the Battle of Cynoscephalae. She ended up wedding a soldier, Viggo, with whom she ran away by funding a voyage to an alternate steampunk dimension that has been ravaged by the undead.
Born 498 AD in Gamla Uppsala, Tola’s travels saw her migrate south to Dacia where she served the Gepid kings as a vampire hunter.
Born 41 AD in Rome, Aericus is a senator masquerading as an actor to be closer to his forbidden love, a pleb Philetus, star of Virgil’s Aeneid.
Born 288 AD, Scout was born to parents exiled to Britannia after their defeat by Probus in 278 AD. Having won multiple archery contests, she was captured by time traffickers from a Romanesque 20th century AD alternate dimension to compete as a shopping mall gladiator.
Born 2 AD in Teotihuacan, Totec is a legendary Aztec gladiator whose undefeated reign spans centuries, defying time and mortality. Enigmatic and Methuselean, they are the champion of a technologically advanced Aztec civilization under Roman dominion. Totec’s countless victories in blood-soaked arenas have inspired a generation of Mesoamericans to rise against the Empire during the chaotic reign of Commodus.
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romanpunks@protonmail.ch
Registered in Ontario, Canada
